SteelStacks High School Jazz Band Showcase kicks off

The SteelStacks High School Jazz Band Showcase returns Feb. 17. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO )

February 16, 2013

High school jazz groups from throughout Eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey are in the spotlight starting Sunday, Feb. 17, in the second annual SteelStacks High School Jazz Band Showcase. Eleven bands will compete at the Musikfest Cafe for the opportunity to open for Preservation Hall Jazz Band May 9 at RiverJazz.

A presentation of ArtsQuest and the Moravian College Music Department, the Jazz Band Showcase features area groups performing in front of a live audience and judging panel of area music educators. The top groups will advance to the finals at Musikfest Café at 4 p.m. March 17.

Up first at 4 p.m. Feb. 17 are Kutztown Area High School, Phillipsburg High School, Saucon Valley High School and Warren Hills Regional High School. Performing at 4 p.m. March 3 are Bernards High School (Bernardsville, N.J.), Brandywine Heights High School, Dieruff High School, Freedom High School, Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Performing Arts, Pocono Mountain East High School and Quakertown High School.

Judges are head judge Dr. Neil Wetzel, professor of music and Director of Jazz Studies at Moravian College; Pat Dorian, professor of music at East Stroudsburg University; retired music educators Chuck Dressler and Dave Kenney; and Skip Wilkins, jazz pianist and professor of music at Lafayette College.

"We here at Moravian College are proud to partner once again with ArtsQuest," says Wetzel. "This event was truly a high mark for jazz education in the Lehigh Valley in 2012. The high quality of the students' musicianship and the hard work of their directors was evident and the television broadcast on WFMZ was inspirational."

During the finals March 17, there also will be performances by the Moravian College Faculty Jazz Ensemble, as well as the SteelStacks Jazz All-Star Big Band, which will feature at least one member from each of the bands in the competition. That band will debut at Musikfest this summer.

In addition, several soloist and section awards will be presented at the finals, with all finals solo award winners earning a free scholarship to Moravian College's 2013 Summer Jazz Camp July 8-12.

The showcase will be highlighted during a one-hour TV special created by Greenleaf Productions that will air on Channel 69-WFMZ at 8 p.m. April 6. The winner of the competition will also perform live on WFMZ's morning news on April 8.

There also will be an official SteelStacks High School Jazz Band Showcase DVD, available for $20 at artsquest.org. The two-hour program includes the entire one-hour WFMZ special, as well as additional interviews and behind-the-scenes footage. It will include at least one complete song from all 11 of the showcase participants.